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  • Let Us Descend

  • By: Jesmyn Ward
  • Narrated by: Jesmyn Ward
  • Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (7 ratings)

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Let Us Descend cover art

Let Us Descend

By: Jesmyn Ward
Narrated by: Jesmyn Ward
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Publisher's Summary

* AN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK *

The first weapon I ever held was my mother's hand. 

On a slave plantation in the Carolinas, Annis has survived in the light of her mother’s resilience, comforted by stories of her African warrior grandmother. Everything she knows, she learned from her mother – how to fight, how to be strong, how to grow up in a world shrouded in darkness. When she is sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, Annis must venture onward through the rich but unforgiving landscapes of the American South alone: from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans, and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation. Searching for relief in memories of her mother, she opens herself to a world beyond her own, teeming with spirits of earth, water, history and myth.   

A reimagining of American slavery as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching, Let Us Descend offers a magnificent portrait of the strength of the human spirit and its ability to emerge from darkness into light. This is a story of beauty, love, rebirth and reclamation – a masterwork for the ages.
©2023 Jesmyn Ward (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Magical Realism African American
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Critic Reviews

Jesmyn Ward is one of the greatest writers of all time. And Let Us Descend, once again, proves it (Jacqueline Woodson, author of RED AT THE BONE)
Ward resurrects an enslaved girl out of the lost folds of the antebellum South, twists magic through every raindrop, mushroom and stalk of sugarcane, and drops you into the middle of her harrowing, unendurable, magnificent song. This is a gripping, mythic, bone-pulverizing descent into the grim darkness of American slavery – and yet somehow this novel simultaneously leaves you in awe of the human capacity to not only endure, but to ascend back to the light. A spectacular achievement (Anthony Doerr, author of ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE)
A stunning achievement. Will grip you from the first word to the last (Nathan Harris, author of THE SWEETNESS OF WATER)

What listeners say about Let Us Descend

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Powerful storytelling

Loved this book - so very sad, but powerful at the same time. Incredible storytelling and great use of truth & imagery.

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Powerful hypnotic and magical

I enjoyed every word of this beautifully crafted story that wraps the reader (listener) in a world that is more than physical. Full of powerful contradictions- dark and light, hope and fear, tangible vs spirit, captivity vs freedom - giving the reader a visceral taste of the dark underbelly of slavery. Most of all it is about love, in all its many forms. 👏💜

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Wonderful

Great story, beautifully written and absorbing from page one. I couldn’t put this down. Highly recommended.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.